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No need, I'm not THAT pressed for time, I've just stopped keeping up with other threads. Thanks for the offer, though.
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Ironheart follows Rhole, staring curiously about him as the woods give way to farmland. When they reach the road leading to Daunton, he prods the hard-packed dirt gingerly with a root before stepping onto it, then strides down the path with determination. His purpose flags, though, as the walls of Daunton grow higher and higher. His steps slow, then stumble to a halt just outside the city gate. He stares up at the walls looming overhead, leaning over backward to crane his leafy head. He fingers the blade of his axe nervously, eyes wide. The gate guards hold their own longaxes at the ready as they eye him with a mixture of amusement and concern. Slowly, Ironheart leans forward to peer through the gate at the city beyond...
The axe falls to the ground with a crash as his branches spasm. "So big!" he whispers. "So many buildings! So much... wood!" He tosses his head back and forth, leaves shaking with violent tremors. "So... much... DEAD... WOOD!"
One of the guards lunges forwards, hooks Ironheart's axe with his pike, and slides it out of the way. "Right, I don't think you're ready for the big city," he says, which his companion moves to bar the gate. Another guard above trains a crossbow on the shaking tree. "Come back when you can contain yourself and keep the peace, if someone'll vouch for you. Until then, off with you!"
Ironheart scrambles away from the threat of steel. "My axe... I need my axe. It's all I have left of the grove..."
The guard cuts him off. "Aye, take it. Just take it far away from here - we don't want no violent rampages in our city!"
Ironheart edges off the road and bends awkwardly to pick up his axe. When he straightens, he shoots a distrustful glare at Rhole. "How can you live in a place like this?" he says plaintively. "Everything is dead!"
Then he turns his back on the gnome, hefts his axe over his shoulder, and trudges back the way he came, towards the forest, planting his roots deliberately in the grass beside the road with every step.